E-commerce spending is up in January but the rate of expansion softened for the second month in a row and is the weakest seen since the current period of growth began in May 2017.

4%

High street spending is down in January following a year-on-year decline of 2.6% in December.

The latest reduction is the fastest seen since last October, and stretched the current sequence of contraction to nine months.

30%

The percentage increase of smartphone sales in India between 2015 and 2016, according to a study conducted by startup, Jana. The study also noted that by 2018, India’s smartphone market share will increase by nearly 70%.

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40%

The percentage of all payments made using cash in 2016; in 2006 the figure was 62% (UK Finance)

33 million

The number of online and point of sale payments, withdrawals from ATMs and transfers to a telephone number via Poland’s BLIK service in 2017, almost four times more than in 2016.

5

The number of EU member states to approach the European Central Bank in 2017 to consult on measures to limit the use of cash (ECB)

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The Key Moments in Payments This Month

$23.47bn

The amount of mobile in-person payments projected for 2018. The rise in US mobile payments has surged in the last five years. In 2017 the amount of in-person payments stood at $16.24bn. Massively impressive growth from 2014, that concluded with $3.73bn, according to analysis from Statista.

Source: Verdict

1,126

The net number of branch closures in 2017. New innovations in digital banking have caused a rapid increase of bank branch closures across the UK. Between the end of 2016 and the end of 2017, NatWest axed 403 branches, from 1058 to just 655 across England and Wales. Lloyds Bank cut 173, bringing its total across the UK to 967. Handelsbanken and Virgin Money are the only two that kept the same amount of branches open between the end of 2016 to the end of 2017. The accelerating pace of closures has caused concern among consumers as it is often the most vulnerable customers and businesses that bear the consequences as banks consolidate branches in big cities.

1.2%

The annual fall in overall UK household spending in January, the first January drop since 2013, according to visa. Of the eight categories analysed, only three started the year off with an increase in expenditure. Health and education noted a 1.4% increase, miscellaneous goods and services (6.1%) and hotels, restaurants and bars (3.7%).

Source: Verdict

6.1 million

BLIK user numbers in 2017, twice as many as at the end of 2016

Source: verdict

Automation in Action

The latest companies to use AI to streamline their workforce

Pandora Automates 5% of Workforce

Music streaming service and Spotify rival Pandora has announced that it is laying off about 5% of its workforce in a bid to save around $45m a year. Jobs across several departments are being automated, including advertising, marketing and investment, as part of a wider restructuring to the company in a bid to maintain its presence in the streaming market.

Online retail giant Amazon has cut hundreds of jobs at its Seattle headquarters as the company reorganises to remove older departments and shift a growing number of tasks onto AI-based software. The company, which is enjoying strong growth, is reportedly restructuring to support future ventures, cutting some operating costs in the process.

Canada-based Suncor Energy has announced the layoff of several hundred workers as the company introduces autonomous haul trucks into its Alberta-based oil sands operations. The layoffs, which have prompted strong reactions from unions, are likely to be only the start, with Suncor planning to build a fleet of over 150 driverless trucks over the next six years.

Once one of the biggest employment sources in the country, India’s IT industry saw layoffs totalling over 56,000 in 2017, and is expecting to see further job cuts in the coming year. The layoffs have been largely due to digitisation and automation, which have dramatically reduced the number of workers required to maintain current operational levels.